rather than pick out individual stocks to trade, it can often be worthwhile to trade the indices themselves, especially in times of high volatility.

for those so inclined, i attach below charts for FTSE and FTSE 250, though one might equally be tempted to trade Dow or S&P, which is significantly broader in its coverage, or even NASDAQ

for ease of reading, i have attached 1 year and 3 month charts in each instance

"GDP growth is an illusion financed by public sector debt to buy votes"

Add to that the distortion in unemployment figures by keeping more youngsters in extended education (aka university).

A pretty false picture....

TP

Over 52 per cent of the UKs GDP is derived from public sector activity, up from 39 per cent in 2001 and 29 per cent when Labour took office.

I'm sure that is just a typo by the 3rd party it was cut'n'pasted from, but I don't think that's correct, by virtue of the fact that the public sector makes fcuk all and therefore contributes next to nothing towards GDP. I would've thought the article is meant to read something like "Public sector net debt, expressed as a percentage of GDP, was 52.9 per cent at end of March 2009."

Updated statistics have recently been released public sector debt now stands at 62.0% as at the end of March 2010.

There's a big difference there between what has been pasted and what is accurate.

no hilary

the figures are correct

it has nothing to do with debt

which as you point out is even worse at 62%

we all work for the public sector - it's called being a taxpayer!

and 62% doesnt include PFI

National Audit Office Value for Money Report

Future payments across all PFI projects up until 2031-32 amount to 91 billion in todays money.

long more UKX @ 5203

all very interesting i am sure, no matter which way one wants to manipulate or present the figures, but in many ways, so what?

i am just a dipstick entrepreneur (i suppose) who produces nothing.
however, our little service company is 95/98% export/overseas based, so that assuredly adds value to the uk economy, even if indirectly.


from a productive point of view, public sector work - e.g. road building and similar - assuredly provides employment and thus tax receipts and of course keeps money moving around the economy

as i said, i know i'm frightfully thick, but other than the fact i don't like the ever-increasing "big brother" interference in our lives, what's your problem?

don't mention the state of the roads

not round here anyway
:-)

out UKX @ 5559 for now +29.5
smart enough for me cynic

splat
nice trade

but you could have posted that trade at any time since 7 am

why wait until ftse is at 5240 ?

a true comment C, but if splat has actually done as he says, then he was quite brave, smacking of catching falling knife - fortunately for him, it may well have worked this time

Camelot,

I don't have time to dig out the exact figures right now, but something like 1% of UK GDP comes from agriculture, 23% from industry and the remaining 76% comes from the service sector.

The service sector includes anything that is run from an office, hotels, restaurants, real estate, etc as well as a relatively small contribution from the public sector from health, education, defence and even silly little things like leisure and recreational facilities. At a guess (like I say, I don't have time to check it out right now), I would estimate the public sector GDP contribution to be around $250bn or even $3bn. This figure would represent around 10% of total UK GDP at the outside.

As I said previously, the statement in your earlier posting is inaccurate.

because I have been trading other stocks in a lively market and frankly haven't had time. It's a usual technique with index trading for me to start with a small position and increase if it is a long way against me in a particularly volatile market as in my experience, moves such as the one we saw on Friday are frequently followed by some sort of temporary correction. I've been trading a long time and feel comfortable with my own reading of the indices, I'm sure everyone trades them differently

You tell em Splat! Covered MKS short +10

hilary

you are going to have to rework those estimates of yours
they are wildly out

anyway, you can't dispute official figures with 'private' estimates

i can't and don't fundamentally disagree with you splat, but i certainly would not have opened a position at us close on friday with a very uncertain w/e ahead .... i like to be able to keep an eye on things, which is why i do not trade the likes of nikkei

that's what I mean cynic - we all have different trading styles. It's all about each person's perceived, or acceptable risk - as it turns out, I was out far too early, so hardly the greatest trade on earth.

Splat - I had +72 first thing - 5216 - 5288 and am now short @5285 - funny old game :-)

Camelot,

I am not going to have to rework anything. The public sector does not contribute 52% to UK GDP. Do you actually know and understand what GDP is?